Mentoring Awards

To celebrate the importance of faculty serving as mentors for more junior colleagues, the Dean presents awards for mentoring at the SMD Convocation annually.

The call for nominations will go out each year in the spring.

Mentoring can be a powerful force in the personal and professional development of an individual. It benefits not only the mentee, but also the mentor and the University. To recognize mentoring as a valuable contribution to the University of Rochester, we will honor individuals who excel in this important endeavor. There are three awards, one for mentoring junior faculty, one for mentoring pre-doctoral trainees and post-doctoral trainees/fellows in basic science research, and one for mentoring residents, fellows, or other clinical trainees in clinical care or clinical research.

Characteristics of the ideal mentor

(Recognizing that no one may have all skills)

Critical traits of the mentor

Accepts responsibility for being a mentor
Gives time and is approachable
Respected, well-established, secure; not threatened by success of a junior person
Altruistic; able to invest in the success of another’s career
Objective and insightful; can evaluate new ideas free of bias
Capable of empathy and caring; respectful of diversity and differences among people; able to appreciate mentee despite possible differences

Role of the mentor

Role model
Teacher
Support and challenge the person being mentored, balancing the two to promote personal and professional development
Counselor and advisor
Sponsor, advocate, and ally, including facilitating and helping establish additional skills, collaborators, mentors, and role models, as needed
Motivates excellence
More than just a teacher or a role model, although both of these roles are important

Knowledge and skills of the mentor

Understands the science of hypothesis development and testing and how to guide a mentee to what is important scientifically
Able to listen, critique, and communicate effectively and constructively
Knowledgeable about different career tracks, stages of a faculty career, markers of development and progress, criteria, and systems for promotion, informal and formal expectations of faculty development
Knowledgeable about scientific writing, grant writing, choice of grants, choosing journals in which to publish, time management, human resource management/supervision, team management, budgeting, etc.
Knowledgeable about balancing multiple professional demands, including service to the Division/Department/School/University

Nature of the relationship between mentor and mentee

Regard for the individual, recognizing the multiple personal and professional roles he or she may be balancing against professional goals
Fair, honest, respectful, and ethical relationship
Proactive, with explicit goals, agendas, and timelines